Coupling pin



Nov. 9, 1943. H. A. RICHARDS COUPLING PIN Filed Nov. 9, 1942 M RH v C mmmA m v 1 fifm M I Patented Nov. 9, 1943 COUPLING PIN Homer A. Richards,Wichita, Rana, assignor of one-half to Myron A. Sayles, Wichita, Kane.

Application November 9, 1942, Serial No. 465,005

12 Claims.

My invention relates to car couplers, and more particularly to a carcoupler of the pin and link type, ands peclfically to the pins used insuch pin and link couplings.

While pin and link couplings antedate the Janney type of coupling usedon railway cars, these are used in this country only on mine cars andother cars that are used in similar operations in private industry, onstreet railroads and other transportation, where the so-called automaticcoupler is not required. Many accidents occur in the use of the pin andlink type of coupling, due to the fact that frequently the fingers orother parts of the hand of a person holding onto the coupling pin arecrushed or otherwise injured by being caught between the coupling andparts of the car in careless handling of the equipment in couplingoperations.

This is due to the fact that, in order to lift the pin and hold it inelevated position ready to engage the same with the opening in the link,it is necessary for a person to hold the pin with the hand in suchposition that any tilting of the pin or any large amount of inwardmovement of the drawhead, will cause the hand to be pinched betweenparts of the car or drawhead and the part of the pin that is gripped inthe operation of holding the same in elevated position. In lifting thepin and holding it in elevated position, it is customarily gripped bythe thumb and index finger, and to some extent by other fingers of thehand, at a point slightly below the upper end thereof, the upper end ofthe pin being ordinarily provided with some sort of an enlargement orhead to aid in holding onto the same in elevated position and to aid inlifting the same into such elevated position. As a result the palm ofthe hand is adjacent the upper end of the coupling pin, while thefingers are more or less in position around the pin below the topthereof with the ends of the fingers below the enlargement or head atthe upper end of the pin, while the operator is holding the pin inelevated position or is lifting it into such elevated position. Thisplaces the fingers in such a position that the same can be very easilyinjured by careless or rough handling of the cars in a couplingoperation.

It is the principal purpose of my invention to provide a guard orhousing around the portion of the pin, that serves as the grip forengagement of the fingers therewith to lift the pin or hold the pin inelevated position, which completely protects the hand and particularlythe fingers of the person holding the pin in such that the guard orhousing be made with an imperforate wall, as slots or other openings canbe provided therein to lighten the device and to prevent accumulation ofany foreign matter therein that might interfere with the operation ofthe same in use, in that an accumulation thereof might interfere withthe insertion of the hand sufllciently into the same to enable theoperator to get the desired grip with the hand on the pin.

More specifically my invention comprises a cup-like or guard member thatflares upwardly and is or an at the upper end thereof, and whichsurrounds the hand grip portion of the coupling pin, access being bad tosaid grip portion through said open upper end of said guard or housingmember, said guard or housing member being a receptacle for the fingerswhile gripping the coupling pin, and not merely a shield, the fingersbeing housed or enclosed within said receptacle when in pin holdingposition.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear as thedescription of the drawing proceeds. I desire to have it understood,however, that I do not intend to limit myself to the particular detailsshown or described except as defined in the claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view partly in section and partly in elevation,partly broken away, showing my invention applied to a conventional pinand link coupling connecting together two cars or similar vehicles.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through one form of my invention,and

Fig. 3 is a similar sectional view through another form thereof.

Referring in detail to the drawing, in Fig. l are shown fragmentaryportions of adjacent ends of cars having vertical wall portions 5adjacent the drawheads 6, said drawheads being movable inwardly andoutwardly, or toward and away from the wall portions 5, due to theprovision of the usual draft gear, which is not a part of my inventionand not shown in the drawing, provided for connecting the drawheads withthe car body. Said drawheads are connected by means of a link 1, whichmay be of any desired length, said links frequently being ofconsiderable length in practice. means for handling the same, such asthe handle 8, and are provided with slots or openings therein that areelongated in the direction of length of the bar-like member I, so as topermit considerable play between the link I and the coupling pins, whichis frequently necessary in the use of mine cars and similar devices inturning relatively sharp curves. Said elongated slotted openings areindicated by the numeral 9 in Fig. 1.

Cooperating with said link I in the usual manner, are coupling pinshaving shank portions III that are longitudinally slidably mounted inthe aligning openings I I in the drawhead 6. My improved coupling pin isprovided with a cup-like housing portion l2 thereon that is located inembracing or surrounding spaced relation to the portion ii of thecoupling pin, which constitutes the grip portion, or portion thereofthat is normally engaged by the fingers, to lift the pin out of one ofthe openings I I and high enough so as to avoid the link 1 to permitsaid link I to be inserted in the opening of the drawhead and thecoupling pin l thereupon dropped into position in the slot 9 in theusual manner. An enlarged head or knob-like end portion I4, constitutinga stop member to aid in gripping the coupling pin with the hand and toprevent the fingers from slipping off the same in case a hard pull onsaid pin is necessary, is, preferably, provided on said coupling pin.

In the form of pin shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the cup-like member I2 isformed integrally with the shank portion of the pin I0 and is providedwith concavely curved outer and inner surfaces l5 and I8 at the lowernarrower portion of the cup-like member l2 where the same merges withthe shank portion of the coupling pin, of which the gripping portion I3is merely an extension, so as to provide a. thickened portion at IT atthe Junction of the cup-like member with the body of the pin to preventany possibility of the cup-like member or housing being sheared off thepin at this connecting portion. Said cup-like member has a graduallyupwardly flaring wall portion that is concavely curved on the inner facel8 thereof and convexly curved on the outer face l9 thereof to provide awide open upper end or mouth portion 20, the upper edge of said cup-likeportion being, preferably, located slightly above the junction 2|between the end enlargement H on the coupling pin'and the hand gripportion l3 thereof. Said cup-like member I2 is made of such proportionsthat the largest hand of an operator ordinarily encountered can readilyenter the open upper end thereof and engage the portion 13 of thecoupling pin to get a firm grip thereon for lifting said pin and holdingthe pin in elevated position.

While the cup-like member I2 is shown as being provided with animperforate wall and as being formed integrally with the body portion ofthe coupling pin in Figs. 1 and 2, it is not necessary that thiscup-like member be made in this manner, as the same can be made as aseparate piece and forced on the body portion of the pin, if founddesirable, and furthermore, if it is found to be desirable, in order toprevent accumulation of water or other foreign matter in the cup-likemember and to reduce the weight thereof, openings can be provided in thewall of said cup-like The same are ordinarily provided with somememberof such a character and arrangement that the strength of the same is notimpaired, as it is necessary that the wall of the cup-like member be ofsuch strength that it will not collapse under operating conditions, evenwith the rough handling of the equipment, as it must remain intact tofully protect the fingers of the operator of the coupling pin.

A modified form of the invention is shown in Fig. 3, in which the shankportion l0, of the coupli Din is provided with a shoulder at 2|, and inwhich the cup-like member is made of a separate piece from the body ofthe coupling pin having a bore 22 therein that receives the shankportion l0 of said pin above the enlargement 2| with a press fit.Obviously, to permit assembly of the device, an integralknob-likemember, such as the member ll shown in Fig. 2, cannot beprovided on the coupling pin, as it would .be impossible to press thecup-like member I2 onto the coupling pin, if such an integralenlargement were provided, that is of greater size than the shankportion of the pin. The hand grip portion I3 is accordingly, preferably,provided with a reduced portion 23, which is provided with concavelycurved walls merging into the knob-like member 24, which is of nogreater maximum diameter than the shank portion l0 and, preferably, ofslightly smaller maximum diameter, so that the bore 22 will readily passthereover. In this form of pin, the fingers will also be locatedsubstantially within the cup-like member 12', as the major portion ofthe grip on said coupling pin is below the top open end 20' of saidcup-like member l2.

Th cup-like guard member l2 thus form a housing for the fingers thatwould normally be exposed to injury in the operation of the coupling pinof the standard character ordinarily provided on mine and similar cars.The same can be made of a different metal than the body portion of thecoupling pin, which is usually made of steel, or said cup-like housingmember I 2' can be made of plastic material of suitable strength andrigidity. Also, if desired, openings such as the slots 25 and thesubstantially circular openings 26, can be provided in the cup-likemember l2 for lightening the weight thereof, or to provide forventilation of the same and the prevention of the accumulation offoreign matter therein. The particular shape of the openings is not ofimportance to this invention, but the same are shown merely for purposesof illustration, the number and the spacing thereof must, of course, besuch that sufficient strength of the wall portions between the sameremains that the cup-like member l2 will not be damaged in the usualrough usage of such a device as that to which this invention pertains.

What I claim is:

1. In a coupling, a drawhead, a link adapted to enter said drawhead,said link having a pin receiving opening therein, said head having anopening therein, a coupling pin slidably mounted in said opening in saidhead and adapted to enter said pin receiving opening in said link, saidpin having a hand grip portion thereon adjacent the upper end thereof,and a rigid cup-like guard member on said pin surrounding said hand gripportion of the same with the upper extremity of said pin projecting outof the open upper end of said guard member.

2. In a coupling, a drawhead, a link adapted to enter said draw head,said link having a pin receiving opening therein, said head having anopening therein, a coupling pin slidably mounted in said opening in saidhead and adapted to enter said pin receiving opening in said link, saidpin having a hand grip portion thereon adjacent the upper end thereof,and a rigid cup-like guard member integral with said pin and surroundingsaid hand grip portion of the same with the upper extremity of said pinprojecting out of the open upper end of said guard member,

3. In a coupling, a drawhead, a link adapted to enter said drawhead,said link having a pin receiving opening therein, said head having anopening therein, a coupling pin slidably mounted in said opening in saidhead and adapted to enter,

said pin receiving opening in said link, said pin having a hand gripportion thereon adjacent the upper end thereof, and a rigid annular opentopped guard member fixed on said pin and surrounding said hand gripportion of the same with the upper extremity of said pin projecting outof the open upper end of said guard member.

4. In a coupling, a drawhead, a. link adapted to enter said drawhead,said link having a. pin receiving opening therein, said head having anopening therein, a coupling pin slidably mounted in said opening in saidhead and adapted to enter said pin receiving opening in said link, saidpin having an enlargement at its upper extremity providing a hand gripportion thereon below said enlargement, and a rigid cup-like guardmember on said pin surrounding said hand grip portion of the same withthe upper extremity of said pin projecting out of the open upper end ofsaid guard member.

5. In a coupling, a drawhead, a link adapted to enter said drawhead,said link having a pin receiving opening therein, said head having anopening therein, a coupling pin slidably mounted in said opening in saidhead and adapted to enter said pin receiving opening in said link, saidpin having a reduced portion spaced from the upper extremity thereofproviding an enlargement at its upper extremity and a hand grip portionthereon below said enlargement, and a rigid cup-like guard member onsaid pin surrounding said hand grip portion of the same with the upperextremity 'of said pin projecting out of the open upper end of saidguard member.

6. In a coupling, a drawhead, a link adapted to enter said drawhead,said link having a pin receiving opening therein, said head having anopening therein, a. coupling pin slidably mounted in said opening insaid head and adapted to enter said pin receiving opening in said link,said pin having a hand grip portion thereon adjacent the upper endthereof, and a rigid cup-like guard member on said pin surrounding saidhand grip portion of the same with the upper extremity of said pinprojecting out of the open upper end of said guard member, said cup-likemember having openings in the wall thereof.

'7. In a coupling, a drawhead, a link adapted to enter said drawhead,said link having a pin receiving opening therein, said head having anopening therein, a coupling pin slidably mounted in said opening in saidhead and adapted to enter said pin receiving opening in said link, saidpin having a grip thereon adjacent the upper end thereof, and a rigidopen topped housing embracing the upper portion of said pin and spacedtherefrom except at the lower end of saidhousing to provide a receptaclesurrounding said portion of the same with the upper extremity of saidpin projecting out of the open upper end tion of uniform diameter, anupper handle porthereof. v

8. A coupling pin having a lower shank portion, and a cup-like opentopped guard member thereon housing said handle portion except at theupper extremity thereof.

9. A coupling pin having a lower shank porton of uniform diameter, anupper handle portion, and a cup-like open topped guard member integraltherewith extending from substantially the upper end of said shankportion in gradually widening surrounding relation to said handleportion, the upper extremity of said handle portion having a knobthereon projecting above the top of said guard member.

10. A coupling pin having a lower shank portion of uniform diameter, anupper handle portion, and a cup-like open topped guard member thereonhousing said handle portion except at the upper extremity thereof, saidguard member having openings in the wall thereof.

11. A coupling pin having a lower shank portion of uniform diameter, anupper handle portion, an enlargement defining the junction of said shankand handle portions, and a cup-like open-topped guard member pressedthereon into engagement with said enlargement, said guard member housingsaid handle portion except at the upper extremity thereof.

12. A coupling pin having a lower shank portion of uniform diameter, anupper handle portion, and a cup-like open topped guard member extendingfrom substantially the upper end of said shank portion in graduallywidening surrounding relation to said handle portion, the upperextremity of said handle portion having a knob thereon projecting abovethe top of said guard member and a reduced portion below said knob.

HOMER A. RICHARDS.

